Marvelous Monday Update 3/2/09

Stitchy Stuff
When I went to put away the specialty floss I received in my grab bags, I noticed I had a lot of Rainbow Gallery threads. Cruising the thrift stores over the weekend, I found this bronze embossed tin that I thought might work. I made a cardboard divider, and the tin works perfectly. Plus it's pretty!






I received this chart in a trade from Christine. Isn't he cute?






NOTE: Some of you may have noticed that I've been adding stash pics to my multiply albums. Just wanted you to know that I have not gone on a crazy stash-buying spree. LOL I've been organizing my charts and uploading them as I go through them. It's *almost* like getting new charts... looking through what I have. :D

I have my third finish of 2009! *happy dance*

Flip Flop Trivet
Designer: MCG Textiles
Time: 19.75 hours to stitch
Fabric: 18ct white aida
Fibers: DMC floss

Last but not least, the results of the giveway from last Marvelous Monday!




42 names into a bowl, 42 names...








Who will the winner be?? *drum roll*

PETRA!
Please email me with your address,
and the little giftie will be on it's way!

Tickety-Tickey-Tick
... is gone. So is the jingle-jangle of change in my pocketbook. The new supercharger arrived at the auto repair shop last Monday, right on schedule. It was installed on Tuesday. I should be good for another 100K, but if not at least the SC has a lifetime warranty.


Work
Remember the 3-day seminars I was a speaker at last December? I'd forgotten that I'd be getting a marketing bonus for doing it. So, on my latest paycheck was an extra $330... before taxes, of course. I bet you can guess where it went! Yep, it went toward paying for part of the SC repairs. Wasn't enough to cover it all, but every little bit helps.



The Economy
Yeah, it sucks all right. There's no if's and's or but's about it! Everywhere we look, businesses are cutting back... and so are consumers. Heck, we *have* to.


I, for one, am dumping as much as I can into my savings just in case I'm one of the unlucky ones who loses my job.

With this latest auto repair, I'll be looking into some 12-month, 0% financing credit cards and personally work up a payment schedule to get it paid off in the 12 months. These are great opportunities for people who can do it in the time frame offered, otherwise they are financially a BAD idea if you can't. I've done this many times in the past and it works for me to pay no interest and still get use of a product. It only works if one *can* pay it off in the time frame or else the consumer gets socked for interest charges accrued over the entire time period. That could be a painful, ugly thing!

I'll be cutting out some unnecessary expenses for a while so I can get the SC paid off as well as a couple of other bills. Why is it when we think we see light at the end of the tunnel, some unexpected expense crops up and throws a wrench (or in my case, a supercharger) into the mix?

I've even talked to my mom (who used to be a hairdresser many moons ago) about doing my hair, so I can avoid having to shell out $60 every 7-8 weeks. Luckily, my hairdresser of 10 years is understanding -and- she says I'm not the only one cutting back.

I have a couple of stash orders I'm waiting on, but after that... I'm putting myself on a stash diet. I *think* I have enough to keep me busy for a while. LOL It's really not so bad if this is my only vice, is it?? I mean, I'm not a clothes-aholic, a shoe-aholic, or even a purse-aholic. (LOL, look at me trying to justify my stash collection!) Must... stay.... strong... no stash... for a while.


School
*sigh* The rough draft of the class project is due today. As of 8pm last night, I still did not have the contribution of one member in our group. I am irritated to say the least since she said she'd have it to me Saturday night. Aside from this infamous class project, I've been doing really well on the homework and the tests.